Tom Crean - Antarctic Explorer
A brief overview of the life of Ireland's greatest Antarctic explorer.
Tag: Farthest South
On This Day – February 3rd 1903
Scott, Shackleton and Wilson return to Discovery
Discovery Expedition 1901 – 1904
On February 3rd 1903, Scott, Shackleton and Wilson made it back to their ship Discovery, after their arduous Southern march, which had commenced on November 2nd 1902. The objective had been, according to Wilson’s Diary “to get as far south in a straight line on the Barrier ice as we can, reach the Pole if possible, or find some new land”, but it is safe to suggest it was never really likely that the Pole would be attained on this particular excursion. The men lacked the skill and experience required with dogs, and indeed the ice, and from the offset progress was slow, and planning poor.
On This Day – February 28th 1909
Shackleton & Wild Reach Hut Point
Nimrod Expedition 1907-1909
Shackleton Nimrod Expedition
Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, Jameson Adams and Eric Marshall reached a new furthest South record of 88° 23′ S, on January 9th 1909, when they surpassed the previous record of 82° 17′ S, reached by Robert Scott, in December 1902. Shackleton who had accompanied Scott and Wilson on that occasion, had hoped to attain the South Pole under his own command, on the Nimrod Expedition, but after the difficult ascent of the Beardmore Glacier, which they had discovered, and named in honour of their chief sponsor, they had laboured in their efforts to traverse the Polar Plateau, and slowly realised that reaching the Pole was beyond them.
Shackleton calculated that there simply would not be enough food to sustain the men, over the distance required to reach the Pole, and the subsequent return march. On the 4th of January, Shackleton finally conceded defeat, and opted instead to target the consolation of getting to within 100 miles of the South Pole.